New coop, roost design help

[eikome]

Hello!

I'm in the process of building a new 6x12 coop (half a 12x12 shed) for no more than 12 standard sized hens, mixed breed flock. It will have a 12x12 covered, predator proof run as well.

I can change the placement of pretty much everything, other than the hen door needs to be somewhere on the right (west) side where the run is, and the people door needs to be somewhere on the left (east) side where the other half of the shed is. The interior height is 6+ ft tall. The nest boxes will be a double stack, approximately 8" off the floor (so a bit less than 3ft to the top of the top boxes)

I would love some input on the layout. Especially the best options and spacings for roosts. Should they all be the same height? Or ladder style? I am concerned with how high a stacked nest box is, the hens getting up and down to roosts higher than 3ft.

All suggestions welcome. Thank you!

 

[RememberTheWay]

You want you roosting bars 13 inches from maybe even 13.5 from the wall so they don't poop on it and you need at least 12 inches between roosts. I recommend putting them all the same height. Unless you have different size breeds like super light breeds and super heavy breeds. In that case they require different heights. A really heavy breed will want bars very low like 12-24 inches from the ground. Your really light breeds like d'uccle, Minorca, leghorn, old English game, etc will want them 6 or more ft high.

What kind of breeds are you housing?

 

[RememberTheWay]

Personally for the nesting boxes I wouldn't recommend stacking them. I would wall mount them all the same height and at about 10 inches from the ground. They will probably all use one anyway especially if you don't have a lot of birds. You want the nesting boxes lower then your lowest roosting bars or they will roost on top of them and poop in the boxes. I would also recommend putting curtains up in front of the boxes. Think tire flaps shredded or beaded curtains but with a durable material that is easily cleaned and when you mount leave a couple inches space between the box and the curtain. Where does the sun come up in relation to your building?

 

[eikome]

You want you roosting bars 13 inches from maybe even 13.5 from the wall so they don't poop on it and you need at least 12 inches between roosts. I recommend putting them all the same height. Unless you have different size breeds like super light breeds and super heavy breeds. In that case they require different heights. A really heavy breed will want bars very low like 12-24 inches from the ground. Your really light breeds like d'uccle, Minorca, leghorn, old English game, etc will want them 6 or more ft high.

What kind of breeds are you housing?

Plymouth Rock, EE, Australorp, Wyandotte, and Sussex, currently. Maybe Buckeye, Swedish Flower, Leghorn, and others in the future. I generally like dual-purpose, heritage types that tend to be heavy-bodied, although the EEs and Leghorns are not.

My current roosts are 2ft off the ground, and the girls do hit the floor pretty hard when they get down. I was hoping to reduce that. How do the low roosts work with the stacked/tall nest boxes?

 

[eikome]

Personally for the nesting boxes I wouldn't recommend stacking them. I would wall mount them all the same height and at about 10 inches from the ground. They will probably all use one anyway especially if you don't have a lot of birds. You want the nesting boxes lower then your lowest roosting bars or they will roost on top of them and poop in the boxes. I would also recommend putting curtains up in front of the boxes. Think tire flaps shredded or beaded curtains but with a durable material that is easily cleaned and when you mount leave a couple inches space between the box and the curtain. Where does the sun come up in relation to your building?

The sun rises in the east , so the side with the people door. The people door will have a window that lines up with a window on the people side, so there should be some light/brightness coming through.

 

[RememberTheWay]

The sun rises in the east , so the side with the people door. The people door will have a window that lines up with a window on the people side, so there should be some light/brightness coming through.

Reason why I was asking in the relation to the building is because of you do not put curtains on the box, but even if you do really, the boxes should be in the darkest part of the building. No sun shining on them. And for the bars and boxes I would put your nesting boxes all on level, so lay them down then mount it horizontal with about 6-8 inches from the ground. Don't give them enough space under it to make a nest there bc they will. Then put your bars higher then the top of the boxes.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello!

I'm in the process of building a new 6x12 coop (half a 12x12 shed) for no more than 12 standard sized hens, mixed breed flock. It will have a 12x12 covered, predator proof run as well.

I can change the placement of pretty much everything, other than the hen door needs to be somewhere on the right (west) side where the run is, and the people door needs to be somewhere on the left (east) side where the other half of the shed is. The interior height is 6+ ft tall. The nest boxes will be a double stack, approximately 8" off the floor (so a bit less than 3ft to the top of the top boxes)

I would love some input on the layout. Especially the best options and spacings for roosts. Should they all be the same height? Or ladder style? I am concerned with how high a stacked nest box is, the hens getting up and down to roosts higher than 3ft.

All suggestions welcome. Thank you!

View attachment 3943550

I would install a larger window where you have the existing one and another on the opposite wall and another one or two over the long wall over the pop door. Make them top hinged so they can be left open all the time during warm weather.

I would install a 2' wide, "U-shaped" poop board (yellow frame) along the S, W and N walls with the top of the board set at 24-28" high off the ground and the "U-shaped" roost (light blue lines) set 9-12" centered over the board. This will give you 24 liner feet of roost space.

You don't need to stack the nest boxes. I would set them so the top was flush with the bottom of the board and put a perch in front of them about 4" OC from the lip of the boxes. I'd make the boxes 16" tall so there would be room for them to stand up in a thickly bedded nest box.

You could tuck a 4th box in under the corner if you are accessing them from outside the coop. You would only need the 3 boxes for a dozen hens. If you want to design it for a larger flock, shift the door down another foot and add a fifth box along the row.

I would add more and longer windows that are top hinged so they can be opened up wide during the summer.

I'd install a ramp (red lines) with cleats centered 6-7" along a 2x8 board, use eye lags and hooks to secure it to the poop board framing and prop up the end on a cinder block to reduce the pitch of the ramp.

This way the larger or older girls can use the ramp to get up and down from the boards. The lighter girls will fly up and down.

This is basically the way I have my coop laid out but my run is much much bigger than what you have planned and it is as predator proof as the coop so I never shut the pop door. The birds can come off the roost first thing in the morning and head out to the run for food and water and hop up on the branches out there to hang out until I come out and let them out.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I would install a larger window where you have the existing one and another on the opposite wall and another one or two over the long wall over the pop door. Make them top hinged so they can be left open all the time during warm weather.

I would install a 2' wide, "U-shaped" poop board (yellow frame) along the S, W and N walls with the top of the board set at 24-28" high off the ground and the "U-shaped" roost (light blue lines) set 9-12" centered over the board. This will give you 24" of roost space.

You don't need to stack the nest boxes. I would set them so the top was flush with the bottom of the board and put a perch in front of them about 4" OC from the lip of the boxes. I'd make the boxes 16" tall so there would be room for them to stand up in a thickly bedded nest box.

You could tuck a 4th box in under the corner if you are accessing them from outside the coop. You would only need the 3 boxes for a dozen hens. If you want to design it for a larger flock, shift the door down another foot and add a fifth box along the row.

I would add more and longer windows that are top hinged so they can be opened up wide during the summer.

I'd install a ramp (red lines) with cleats centered 6-7" along a 2x8 board, use eye lags and hooks to secure it to the poop board framing and prop up the end on a cinder block to reduce the pitch of the ramp.

This way the larger or older girls can use the ramp to get up and down from the boards. The lighter girls will fly up and down.
View attachment 3943602

This is basically the way I have my coop laid out but my run is much much bigger than what you have planned and it is as predator proof as the coop so I never shut the pop door. The birds can come off the roost first thing in the morning and head out to the run for food and water and hop up on the branches out there to hang out until I come out and let them out.
View attachment 3943606View attachment 3943607
View attachment 3943608

@eikome I 100% agree with her suggestions. Totally forgot about the poop boards- you will definitely want those!

only thing I would change about what I see in your photos is maybe put the roosts a little further from the walls so they don't spray poop on them? Do you have issues with that at all? Love the PVC feed trough - is there anything about it's design that you would change?

 

[DobieLover]

only thing I would change about what I see in your photos is maybe put the roosts a little further from the walls so they don't spray poop on them?

Lowering the roost height will prevent splatter. I keep mine at 13 in above the surface of the poop boards. I personally don't care much if they are splattered. I want to be able to get my scoop under the boards easily when I'm cleaning in the mornings. My roosts are centered at approximately 12.5" from the walls.

Love the PVC feed trough - is there anything about it's design that you would change?

No. I have it suspended from chains. That way I can lower one side shorter than the other if need be for the bantams to be able to easily reach. However I'm not found that to be an issue. They just stand up taller. That design offers feeding from both sides of the trough which makes bickering much less of an issue.

 

[aart]

Does the person door go into the rest of the shed?
Would help to see pics of the shed itself inside and out.

Editing further on @DobieLover 's sketch, I'd eliminate the lower branch of roosts and put 4 nests on the wall below the people door.

See my 'part of shed coop' on My Coop page.